Chapter 21
Harry thrashed, trying desperately to escape his uncles grip, but the man was buried deep inside of him from behind.
"If you shoot, we both go down," Vernon taunted, tightening his grasp around his nephew's shoulder. Harry bit his lip and glanced at his feet that were balanced on the edge of the building.
Harry could feel the bones cracking beneath his uncle's vice-like grip, but that was the least of his concern at the moment.
"Vernon, let Harry go, and we'll spare you," an Agent that Harry didn't know, called. But Vernon just laughed, and gave another painful thrust, making Harry whimper in pain.
"Whatever you want Vernon, it's yours!" Tony called, and Harry could hear the fear and pain in his voice.
"I don't want your ruddy money," Vernon laughed, pounding into Harry again.
Harry let out a cry, and Vernon twisted his broken arm more, making him see stars. "Shut up, boy!"
"Let him go, Dursley!" An Agent yelled, raising his gun.
Vernon saw the gun and spun around, losing his balance.
"No!" Harry heard Tony scream as they went toppling off of the roof of the building.
And then he was falling, and falling, just waiting to hit the ground...
Harry's eyes flew open as he felt something down his throat. Nothing good usually came of that.
Tony, who was napping in the chair beside Harry's bed, was awoken by the rapid increase in the heart-rate monitors. Harry suddenly bolted upright, thrashing wildly, nostrils flaring and sweat dripping from his brow, looking deathly pale, taking on an almost blue-ish tint.
"Harry!" Tony cried, desperate to get settle his son down before he hurt himself. But Harry had already grabbed the tube that was down his throat and tugging at it.
"Harry, stop! It's okay, it was just a dream! Calm down, you're going to hurt yourself!" Tony hushed, grabbing Harry's hands and wrestling them from the tube that he was gagging on and trying to pull out.
A nurse ran into the room as the machines surrounding the teenager began sounding.
"He's bucking the ventilator!" She called, pressing a call button on the wall. More nurses flooded the room and Tony was pushed to the side.
"Mr. Stark, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," a nurse dressed in pale green scrubs said, placing a soft hand on Tony's arm.
"We need to bag him," declared another nurse, watching the monitors. He began disconnecting the ventilator and another person removed the tubing from the teenager's throat, immediately replacing it with a mask attached to a bag. Rhythmically, the nurse began squeezing it to deliver oxygen to Harry's lungs.
"What's wrong with him?" Tony asked, fighting the urge to push past all of the nurses and get to his son. It was hard enough seeing Harry connected to that ventilator, but watching someone pump oxygen into his kid's lungs manually? It seemed too much.
"We're trying to figure that out now, Mr. Stark, but I need you to wait outside while we do," the nurse replied, voice tight but sympathetic. Despite it being the last thing he wanted to do, Tony nodded and slipped outside.
Mind racing a million miles a minute, Tony stumbled over to a plastic chair in the waiting room and collapsed into it. Burying his head in his hands.
Things weren't supposed to be like this. Harry was supposed to be getting better, not getting worse.
He didn't know how long he sat there- seconds? Minutes? Hours?- before he heard the sharp clicking of heels on tile floor. At the familiar sound, Tony raised his head.
"Tony!" Pepper called, hurrying towards him. "What happened? Friday alerted me that Harry was in distress?"
"How did Friday-?" Tony began, but Pepper held up her hand.
"I did a tech-y thing, but we'll discuss that later. Is he alright?"
"I- I don't know what happened," Tony breathed, letting the events of the past few minutes catch up with him. "One minute we were both sleeping and then..."
"Mr. Stark?" Someone called, and both Pepper and Tony turned to see Dr. Atkins standing there, an eased expression on her face.
"He's okay?" Tony breathed, recognizing there was no immediate danger to his kid.
"He's fine. We put him back on the ventilator and administered a sedative to calm him down. Vital signs show that Harry likely had a nightmare, and began pulling at the tubes in his sleep. When he woke up, he couldn't breathe because some of the tubing had been disconnected," Dr. Atkins explained with a soft smile.
"How do we prevent that from happening again?" Tony asked, knowing that nightmares for Harry were going to continue to be a common thing.
The smile slipped from the physician's face.
"That's why I'm out here, actually. I actually need your permission to put some soft restraints on Harry so that he doesn't hurt himself when he wakes up. I know it sounds cruel, but Harry's condition is very delicate and we don't need any repeats of just now."
Pepper glanced up at Tony, eyes glazed over with tears.
"Yes, yeah, do whatever you think is best," Tony responded, glancing at his shoes, after a beat of silence passed.
"Okay, we will administer the soft restraints, and then you will be able to go in and sit with him. I expect he will be waking soon, but with the head trauma, there's no telling when exactly he will wake up. Just keep talking to him and showing your support, and I have no doubt it will be no time at all."
"Thank you," Pepper nodded to her in acknowledgement. Dr. Atkins gave a small, but weak, smile before walking away, leaving the couple alone.
"We'd better get back in there," Tony said, running a shaky hand through his hair. "He's probably going to be scared when he wakes up."
"Tony," Pepper sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I brought some of your clothes, and booked a hotel room. Go shower, eat and change. It'll be a while before he wakes up again."
"No," Tony shook his head fervently. "I can't leave him again. Not after last time."
Pepper opened her mouth to ask when she realized what he was talking about.
"Tony, that wasn't your fault. For all you knew, Dursley was in America, not waiting inside. There was no way to have known. Harry asked for privacy, and after everything, it was the least you could give him, so you did."
Tony looked at her with big brown eyes. "How do you know all of this?"
"Nat told me a bit, but I know you Tony. I know that you would never purposely let Harry walk into a, even potentially, dangerous situation. Ever."
Tony nodded, tucking his chin to his chest.
"Now go back to the hotel, shower, eat and change. I'll have Friday contact you if anything changes."
*
"Peter," Steve sighed, placing a hand on the teenager's restless knee, stopping it from bouncing.
"Sorry," Peter blurted, dropping his head into his hands. "How much longer until we can go?"
"We're waiting for the all clear from Tony, then we'll call your Aunt May and get her permission, and as soon as that's sorted, we'll head out, okay?"
Peter nodded. He felt as if that would be an eternity from now, but he knew that sitting in a hospital staring at Harry's lifeless form would feel even longer, and much less productive. Not that they were being particularly productive now.
"Ah, my friends! So good to see you!" A loud voice boomed from the doorway. Clint drew his knife from the hidden sheath, Bucky shot up from his relaxed position next to Steve and Peter, and pulled a pistol out of a concealed holster. Even Steve stood up and positioned himself slightly in front of Peter.
"Easy there, my friends," Thor chuckled, holding his hands up in defense, holding Mjolnir easily in one hand. "You Midgardians are always so ready to fight with your silly weapons."
"Says the man who always carries a hammer with him," scoffed Clint, sliding the knife back in its sheath. The last person he ever wanted to see was standing next to the God of Thunder, staring at him with magic sparkling in his green eyes.
The same eyes that he saw when the God of Mischief has taken control of his mind.
With a shudder, Clint brushed the thought away. Glancing over to Steve and Bucky, he saw that both men had their jaws clenched, standing in front of Peter, almost protectively.
"Why all the long faces? And where is this boy that I have been told all about?" Thor asked, large smile slipping a bit as he picked up on the tension in the room. He wasn't always the best at reading emotions, but he could tell something wasn't right.
"Hush now brother," Loki drawled, eyes sparkling with interest when he noticed that at the mention of the boy, everyone's faces fell. "I'm sure they'll tell us everything very soon."